This invention relates to packaging and is more particularly concerned with improvements in a carton formed of paperboard, or other foldable sheet material, for holding a generally elongate article, such as, a bottle or tube, with portions of the article visible through openings in a wall of the carton.
Cartons have heretofore been provided for marketing various articles, particularly articles having the configuration of a tube or bottle, which cartons have a partially open face through which at least a portion of the article can be observed. Some cartons of this general type, commonly known as shadow boxes, have become popular for holding and displaying products such as, for example, medicines and health and beauty care items, which are marketed in bottles or tubes. Generally, such cartons have the appearance of a shallow, elongate tray which is adapted to be set upright on a narrow end to display an elongated bottle or tube through an open or partially open side which constitutes the front of the display carton. In some forms the carton may be provided with a means for locking the bottle or tube in the desired position therein. In some styles of this type carton there is provided a single panel back or bottom having slide and end walls hinged thereto, one or more of which will incorporate structure forming retention means for the article. In another form of the carton which is designed for marketing products packed in relatively thin, elongate tubes, one of the board panels forms the back of the display and the opposite board panel is cut to form the front and also to provide flaps for closing the carton ends and confining the articles. Generally, the outside surface of the carton has been relied upon for printing thereon instructions or display material relevant to the use or advantages of the product which is being marketed. In a recently developed form of this type display carton the article is trapped betwen the one sidewall of the carton and a display panel which, in part, extends in a diagonal plane inwardly of the opposite sidewall and which has an inner portion cooperating with the back wall and the sidewall in forming a pocket in which the article is adapted to be retained. Such an arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. Re 28,530 granted to Joseph R. D'Allessio on Aug. 26, 1975.
It is a general object of the present invention to provide a carton of the type referred to for use in the marketing of bottled or tubed products which may be formed with a high degree of economy from a single blank of paperboard or similar material, which has provision for retaining the bottle or tube in a generally centered position between oppositely disposed sidwall panels while providing for a substantial amount of accompanying display material, all of which provides the resultant package with a neat and attractive appearance.
A more specific object of the invention is to provide a shadow box style display carton for articles, such as tubes or bottles, wherein provision is made for holding the tube or bottle in a nearly centered position in the carton so as to attractively display the same while providing space for display advertising or illustration of the use of the product along both sides thereof, without increasing the size of the carton to an undesirable degree and with provision for retaining the article therein in an attractive manner.
Another object of the invention is to provide a display carton having the general form of tray, with a front or top wall which is partially open and with means for retaining the article to be displayed therein which means is in the form of supplemental panels extending diagonally from the side edges of the opening in the front or top wall to a point intermediate the side edges of a back wall panel, which provides space in which the article is cradled and also space alongside the same for instructions in the use of the article, or display material of a desired character.
To this end the invention as disclosed and claimed herein comprises a display carton which is formed from a single cut and scored blank of paperboard or similar material so as to provide hingedly connected front, back and sidewalls and an internal cradle arrangement of hingedly connected panels which include inwardly slanted display panels extending in hinged relation from adjacent the hinge connections of the front with the sidewalls between inner portions of which a tube, jar or other product container member is adapted to be positioned.